Recently in Internet Crime Category

An Illinois man linked to an elaborate LinkedIn fraud is facing an enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC accuses investment advisor Anthony Fields of Lyons, Ill., of trying to hawk more than $500 billion in securities by using LinkedIn and other social media sites, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The securities were bogus, and Fields didn't even have proper credentials to sell them, the SEC alleges.

Though Fields was apparently acting alone, the practice of using social media like LinkedIn for fraud is on the rise.

Facebook burglary is real. So real that insurance companies in Australia and the United Kingdom are warning people about the consequences of posting their locations online.

That warning also applies here in the U.S., where a string of burglaries was tied to social media just last year. Two of those break-ins were prompted by Facebook posts from homeowners who had gone on vacation.

Even your Facebook friends can't be trusted.

A warning for cell phone subscribers using AT&T: Hackers attempted -- and failed -- to reach out and touch some of your personal data.

The "organized" hacking attempt affected less than 1 percent of AT&T's cellular customers, a spokesman told The Washington Post. AT&T is the nation's second-largest mobile carrier with 100 million subscribers.

Affected customers were notified by email Monday. AT&T said customer data was not accessed, but warned users they may still be at increased risk for email or text-based scams.

Americans these days seem to be avid consumers of everything web-based. But, if things like Facebook are being used to organize crimes, can the government impose a Facebook ban? Or, even a blanket social media ban?

It seems that our neighbors across the pond are considering a ban on things like Facebook and Twitter.

The widely-publicized use of social media in organizing crimes like looting and vandalism in London likely influenced this new idea.

A possible flash mob robbery in Germantown, Maryland, took place over the weekend.

About 3 dozen youngsters, caught on videotape, entered a 7-Eleven convenience store early Saturday morning, reports NBC Washington.

The participants in the robbery were brazen. Despite the fact that surveillance tapes were rolling, many were smiling and laughing while grabbing store merchandise, according to NBC Washington.

The NYPD is on Facebook now, not just to publicize the police department but also to combat the growing wave of crimes that have connections to Facebook or Twitter. The NYPD's social media efforts have now given birth to a new juvenile justice unit.

The new unit will be looking at Facebook, Twitter and MySpace posts that might have criminal connections, according to the New York Daily News.

Considering the recent surge of criminal activity originating from the net, such as the rioters and looters in London that have been using social media to organize vandalism and warn others of police presence, it's probably no surprise that the NYPD has decided to step in to try to combat this new trend.

Did you know that even Oklahoman murderers are on Facebook? The use of social media in prisons has even affected California's inmates. Facebook, however, has responded, and is now in the process of working with law enforcement to close these pages down.

One high-profile inmate that had a Facebook account was convicted murderer Justin L. Walker, who is in prison for murdering an Oklahoma sheriff.

His Facebook account had photos of him smoking a homemade bong while in prison, smoking a joint, holding a bottle of alcohol, and even had a photo of him holding a bag of weed. All of these photos were taken from prison, reports FOX23.

George Bronk, known as the Facebook stalker, was sentenced to four years in prison for snooping around women's Facebook pages and e-mail accounts.

The crimes started in December 2009, and spanned months until the California man was caught last September. Bronk broke into women's e-mail accounts after figuring out the answers to their "security questions" by looking over their Facebook pages, reports the New York Daily News.

Once inside his victim's e-mail accounts, he found nude pictures that they had sent, and then forward the pictures to everybody in their contact list, the New York Daily News reports.

David Flory, a long-time physics professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, was arrested on Sunday after police concluded an investigation into his self-described "hobby."

Flory admitted to running a website, Southwest Companions, that caters to both prostitutes and Johns, encouraging solicitation, sex for money, and the rating of prostitutes.

Unfortunately, the Associated Press reports that he made very little money.

Dozens have been arrested in New York for possessing and sharing child rape images. The arrest follows a lengthy investigation by the district attorney's office and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. The offending images were not merely of child pornography, but are more aptly described as child sexual abuse photos.

The arrested defendants come from all walks of life and range from age 18 to 63. They include a lawyer, a dishwasher, a deli worker, a shoe store worker, and a substitute teacher who worked in public schools in Manhattan, reports The New York Times.

The defendants used peer-to-peer technology, most commonly used in downloading music and movies, to share the images, according to CNN.